A warm, inviting, orange light shone bright and contrasted with the enveloping darkness and the cold silver glow of the trio of moons in the night sky. Down on the wooden platform above the swamp, a tent emanated a soft light.
In it, the wizard lowered his staff, proudly finishing his combination of words and movements. The goblin princess looked in awe at the glowing orbs of orange, yellow, and red that floated gently within the tent.
She raised her finger to touch them. As she did, the orbs moved and rotated, now attracted to her own gravity.
She guided them with her hand, saying tenderly, “You make such beautiful wonders, my star champion.”
The wizard blushed at the compliment. He moved himself closer to the table where the princess was sitting. As he placed down his staff on it, he humbled to himself, “Oh it's nothing. Any apprentice would learn that one in their first months.”
Ivy giggled, pushing the stars away to float through the tent. She inched closer to the wizard and said in a warm inflection that matched the bright lights of the wizard's creation, “I think they are most impressive. You are most talented, my star champion.”
The wizard scrambled for the papers that were laid on the table until he felt the princess’s hand reach for his. He felt her warmth and a sudden redness took over his entire face.
To the princess's shock, he did not recoil as he used to. He turned his hand over and held her back.
For a moment, both were quiet, the princess seating on the edge of the table with a gentle smile, and the wizard shielding himself underneath his hat as he pulled it down to hide his blushing face.
He quickly brought his other hand upwards, coughing into it as he tried to regain his focus.
“Hrm. I'm sure Your Highness must have seen her share of court mages or advisors back home.” He looked down, his voice nervously trembling as he felt the snug grasp of the princess. “Really, I'm nothing special.”
The wizard’s anxious tone changed. His free hand brought his hat upwards again, and the princess noticed a deep sadness behind his eyes. Trapped within them was a small glimmer of light, shining like a distant fading star in the early morning hours of the night sky.
Ivy's grip tightened. She felt the rhythmic beating of Figwit’s heart. She leaned onto him, wrapped her hands around his arm and laid her pointy green ears and head comfortably into the wizard’s chest and soft gray robe.
“Oh. I have seen many shamans and mystics in old country. But I never met one as gracious or as wonderful as you. My star champion.” Ivy felt Figwit’s heart race with an unusual vigor. She continued.
“I have never been ... wanted. Always the forgotten child, an afterthought dropped into tutors, and if it wasn't enough ...” Ivy's voice wavered as she remembered her past. She held Figwit’s arm and hand even harder and he leaned back against her.
“Exiled ... When I come here, I hoped things would be better. But where I went, it was always the same. Scorn, hate, disdain and …”
“Rejection.”
Ivy’s ears twitched slightly at the word from the wizard. Her watering eyes met the reignited light of the wizard’s gaze. It was now shining bright and strong like the sun of a clear summer evening.
The princess let out a faint smile as she tried to pull back her tears. She nodded and continued, “I thought life would end here in this swamp. Then ... you arrived. My star champion.” Ivy closed her eyes and leaned her head into Figwit’s chest. “I have been through many castles and met many nobles. But you ... you were the first one that really and truly made me feel like a princess.”
Everything fell quiet in the orange, red, and yellow air of the tent. Both Ivy and Figwit heard each other’s heartbeats. They were almost deafening in the silent tent.
Figwit was the first to break the silence. He turned to hug her gently as he spoke. “I was never ... a star, much less a champion.”
Ivy let out a slight chuckle at his words.
“The stars, I ... I can't explain it. They called to me. So I left my home and went to train to become a seer and wizard, but...” It was his turn for his voice to waver. “I knew this path was a long and lonely one but I had never expected it to be so cold.”
“What do you mean?” Ivy asked as she raised her head to match Figwit’s.
“A seer is not always a welcome addition. Many people see us as bad omens and curse bringers. I spent a lot of my time on the road too, reading peoples’ fortunes and looking for any place that would hire me.”
Ivy and Figwit smiled at each other as they realized what fate had done.
Ivy let out a chuckle. “Don't tell me I made you feel like a princess too.”
The wizard laughed quietly. He knelt on the floor to be at the same height as the princess as he continued. “No, no. I, huh, eventually was welcome in Amberlight. The dwarf king wanted a seer to make sure nothing bad happened to him and ... I guess I did a pretty bad job.” The wizard frowned as he recalled the great molasses flood.
“The little ones,” Ivy said in a stern and disapproving tone. Figwit nodded.
“Yeah ... the little ones.” He sighed. “I'm sure that having to watch over them is as much a punishment to me as repaying their debt is for them.” His gaze drifted to the papers and designs on the table and, as he scrambled them, he admitted, “I don't know if it was all the years I spent on the road alone, half being cursed by angry villagers and half being rejected by snooty nobles, but those two are always so cheery and optimistic and I ...”
“The little ones, you care about them,” Ivy completed with an understanding smile and tone.
“Yeah,” Figwit answered with a sigh as he moved to lean his head on Ivy's shoulder. “I don't know why though. They certainly don't seem to care about anything but themselves.”
“You must be patient. I know that our little ones are different, but they both need patience. I have learned that, as long as you can wait and have hope, after darkness of night morning will come again.”
The gravity of their bodies attracted one another. They wrapped their arms around each other and finally realized why the constellations had brought them together. Their hearts filled with emotion, weighing upon their chests.
They felt as heavy as two binary stars that danced in tandem, trekking through the depths of the universe. Their glowing and warming light was the only certainty they knew of.
It felt right; the warmth, the comfort, the safety of another soul and body. The hug revitalized their hopes and dreams. Even if all was to end and the hug could last for eternity, in their heads they thought they wouldn't mind it at all.
Figwit spoke. With the warmth of Ivy's body firmly pressing against him he admitted to her in a low and intimate tone, “I must say, though, Your Highness ... when I first saw you, I didn't know you were ...”
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“A goblin?” Ivy answered with a slight laugh. She gently pulled Figwit’s head to face her.
They stared into each other’s’ eyes, and a slight laugh erupted from Figwit as he said, “Yes. Your Highness ... a goblin.”
Ivy smiled. She brought her hands to Figwit’s head and reassured him. “I knew, but ... I think you are past that now, aren't you, Figwit?”
The blush returned, now taking over both the princess and the wizard. Her pointy ears twitched slightly and as he noticed it, the wizard chuckled and admitted with a smile, “Yes, please allow me to say Your Highness. I think your ears are quite cute.”
The princess inched her head closer to the wizard's, finishing as she said, “Please, Figwit. Call me, Ivy.”
Both of them closed their eyes, bringing themselves closer to one another. Their union was blessed by the stars and planets and their fates becoming entangled with the magic and power of their first kiss.
#
It could have lasted an eternity, but the darkness and uncertainty of the night dared to challenge the union of the new couple. Outside the tent, another union erupted with the cry of “Strike! Strike! Strike!”
The kiss ended with both Ivy and Figwit brought back from their celestial starlight dream and into the swamp where their tent stood.
“What.” The wizard let out as he stood back up. He helped the princess off of the floor. As the couple moved outside, they were greeted by a mob of goblins wielding torches and hammers.
“Lemin,” Ivy irked out with a disapproving stare at the ringleader of the green guard rebellion.
“Your Highness,” the goblin answered in an equally disdainful tone, spitting to the floor.
“What's meaning of this, Lemin? You come to usurp me?” Ivy said with a firm, authoritative tone. She placed her hands on her hips and defiantly stood her ground next to the wizard.
Lemin let out a laugh, signaling his gomrades to imitate him and as he gave a mocking bow to the princess. He answered in an equally disrespectful tone. “Never, Your Highness. We are, as always, your humble servants and retinue.”
He raised himself back up as he revealed his true intentions. “No, what we are here for is to enforce the oathstrike!”
“Huh? What do you mean enforce the oathstrike? You lost!” Figwit cried, banging his staff on the floor as if to assert his own authority.
“Quiet, magic man! We mean the first oathstrike. The one you agreed to back in the old country, Your Highness. Have you forgotten?” Axel shouted in his weary voice. He held a mallet in one hand and a torch in the other.
The princess’s eyes widened and her authority and composure seemed to melt away as she realized. “Oh no ...”
Her ears twitched nervously and her legs began to tremble. She brought her hands together as if to hold herself.
“What do they mean, Ivy?” asked the wizard.
She opened her mouth to answer, but her voice wavered. Instead, Lemin’s voice boomed and replaced her authority.
“Her Royal Highness, Princess Ivy Wolfsbane of Haretrapper, promised to us that as long as we remain as her green guard, if she held any keep or land that she would provide for us adequate bedding, food, and equipment!”
The wizard looked in confusion at the anger of the goblins and the fear in his love’s eyes. He leaned over her, bringing the princess under the soft and protective cover of his cloak. Her trembling diminished as she felt the warmth of her love, and a semblance of her authority and presence returned as she once again stood her ground.
“You will get it! But you must wait. Conditions are not ready yet.” The princess yelled to match the angry goblin’s voice.
“No!” Lemin cried out, and every goblin yelled in tune with him. “No more work until we get everything we are owed. You are bound by oathstrike and we demand you honor it!”
The goblins behind Lemin and Axel cheered as their will was asserted over the wizard and the princess.
“Alright, look. I’m sure we can find some sort of compromise here,” Figwit said with a pleading and diplomatic tone as he stepped forward closer to Lemin and the goblin mob.
“Figwit, no!” Ivy cried out, trying to hold her love back from making a horrible mistake. But she could not hold his weight, and as the wizard continued forward, his cloak came loose and fell in the princess’s hands.
“I’ll be fine, Ivy. I have dealt with cranky dwarfs before; angry goblins shouldn’t be much worse,” the wizard said out loud as the entire mob waited for the signal to pounce on the human with their tools.
“You can’t negotiate with goblins!” the princess tried to yell out as she held on to the cloak. But her yell was muffled by the mocking jeers of the goblin guard.
“Look, huh ... Lemon.”
“It’s Lemin,” the yellowish, lemon-like goblin gritted through his teeth to the wizard as he signaled the guard to quiet down and listen.
“Hrm, right. Look, Lemin. We just barely began construction of the park. We don’t have the necessary facilities or means to get what you want.”
Axel spat to his side. Lemin nodded with his gomrade’s sentiment and retorted, “Why are we making the foundations for the rides first then? We should be making housing for us and a proper kitchen to serve meat!”
The goblins all cheered as the small goblin’s authority began to tower over the ever-diminishing and fumbling tall wizard.
“We are in a swamp!” Figwit expelled and held his own head in frustration. “This place isn’t exactly a royal buffet.”
“Oh yeah?” Axel addressed the wizard. “What about them pointy hats up there? Why do they get their own place to sleep? In fact, why do you two get your own tent while we have to sleep out here in the cold?”
The wizard struggled to think of an answer. Behind him, the princess covered herself with the cloak of her star champion, cowering within it as she realized her powerlessness against the mob.
“I ... huh.” The wizard began to sweat profusely. His mind raced with possible spells or magic to use to escape from the situation, but he looked back to Ivy. He saw her fear and noticed as she tried to find safety in his own cloak.
She discretely moved her hand beneath it, almost as if beckoning the wizard to come to her; for them to be together if the guard was to crash on them.
He couldn’t leave her. He would not let her down now! The wizard fixed his hat. His heart raced and his love drove him forwards as he reasserted himself and prepared to defend his love’s honor against the mob of protesting goblins.
“Look. Ini and Ono have their own work and things to worry about. As do Ivy and I. We need these tents to sleep in and plan the work schedule and find ways to get this park built! I’m sure we can get what you want, but we simply can't get it now! Doesn't matter what you do. You just simply will have to wait until we get the basics that the gnomes want!” Figwit stood his ground, his voice booming against the mob of goblins and his staff clanking against the wooden platform below as if to emphasize his words and authority.
For a moment, the princess's head poked out from the cloak she now wore as a poncho. She smiled at her love's determination and effort.
The wizard towered over the goblins and he looked onward with a confident smile, his love filling him with the courage to face the rising odds. Perhaps, he thought, if he could just make it then love would see him through these troubles.
“Alright, that's it. Axel, knock him out with your hammer,” Lemin said as he turned to his gomrade by his side. “We are not getting anything out of these two. We need to go straight to the pointy hats.”
“Wait, what are you—” Figwit cried as, to his shock, the old and feeble Axel jumped up and hit him on the side of the head with his wooden mallet.
“Ow!” Figwit cried out.
Behind him, the princess stood mouth agape and frozen in shock.
“What are you doing!” The wizard yelled, recoiling in pain.
“I said knock him out,” Lemin said to Axel as he stared at his mallet.
“I hit him full force. That usually knocks everything out.”
“Well do it again then!” Lemin let out in frustration, raising his hand to order Axel again.
The old goblin jumped and once more struck the wizard, who now fell to his knees.
“Stop that!” the wizard cried out in pain as the goblin guard looked in shock and surprise at the wizard's hardiness.
“He's got a thick skull, this one,” Axel said with a slight tone of admiration.
“Must be from all that magic spells he's got inside,” Lemin retorted.
“Let me at it!” Another goblin came from the ranks, hammer in hand, and struck the wizard.
“Gah! I sop tha—-” The wizard’s words slurred, and the goblins now mirrored the frozen princess's shock and confusion.
“I said knock him out!” Lemin yelled out, breaking the goblins from their trance.
The entire goblin guard surrounded the wizard and began to hit him with their mallets.
Dozens of mallets struck Figwit’s body but the wizard remained conscious. When the guard stopped, Figwit let out incoherent words and groans.
Ivy cried out. “Stop, please!” Ivy cried out, finally breaking from her frozen state and rushing to the wizard.
The guard stood aside, opening the way for her. The princess knelt by the wizard’s side and held out his battered head close to her.
“Ivy ...” the wizard said.
Ivy took his hand and held him, trying to comfort him.
“It's alright, my star champion. I'm here.”
Lemin sighed at the goblins’s failure and ordered, “Ugh. Forget about knocking him out. Just grab ahold of him and restrain the princess. We are going straight to the pointy hats to make our demands.”
Lemin moved his hand and the goblin guard poured over the couple, dragging the battered wizard across the floor and surrounding the princess. They formed a circle around her, holding her in their center as they linked arms with each other to form a chain. They kept their distance from their feudal mistress and guided her.
From within the moving circle of goblins, she looked at the battered wizard and her heart sunk at their powerlessness. She held on to the cloak, holding it tight as she gazed at the shadow of the gnomes’ tower and hoped, against all hope, that the gnome brothers would save them.